SAGINAW, MI — The majority of Saginaw County commissioners feel their relatives should be allowed to serve on boards and commissions.

Relatives of three commissioners — Tim D. Novak, the father of Vice Chair Timothy M. Novak, D-Carrollton Township, a HealthSource Saginaw trustee; John Doyle, the father-in-law of Ann M. Doyle, R-Tittabawassee Township, on the Board of Canvassers; and Juanita Foxx, the wife of Eddie F. Foxx, D-Bridgeport Township, a Commission on Aging trustee — already do.

Commissioner Timothy P. Kelly, R-Saginaw Township, made a motion at the Saginaw County Board of Commissioners meeting Tuesday that a new board policy be enacted to exclude relatives of commissioners from serving on boards or commissions in pursuit of "better public access and transparency."

The proposed policy change would have also excluded individuals from serving on one or more paid board or commission but it failed 10-5.

Kelly said he doesn't understand why commissioners would oppose eliminating potential for conflict of interest situations where family members are involved.

CourtesyCommissioner Tim Novak, D-Carrollton Township

"I think it was a solution in search of a problem that doesn't exist,"
Said Commissioner Mike Hanley, D-Saginaw. "If you follow this line of reasoning, Bobby Kennedy never
could have been Attorney General.

"I see the potential for conflicts, but I think it's hypothetical."

Doyle is the only commissioner with a serving relative who favored the policy change.

"I don't think (Tim Kelly) personally targeted me, but I think probably my
situation brought it into light for him to bring it up," Novak said. "As
I've stated multiple times, my father or I don't have any financial stake
in this whatsoever."

What is a conflict of interest?

On the surface — at least in the political realm — a conflict of interest refers to when a government official or elected politician, who is in place to serve the public or constituents, is conflicted by another separate "interest."

"The first thing I always recommend is that municipalities always have a conflict-of-interest policy," said Ronald D. Richards Jr. a Lansing-based municipal attorney with Foster, Swift, Collins and Smith law firm.

Conflicts usually arise under situations where "personal financial interests" are involved, he said, but "the circumstances are so varied that it really depends on the situation and often times it falls back to the policy."

Beyond the specific policies of boards or commissions, Richards said most laws regulating conflict of interest only pertain to potential financial gain.

Neither stands to financially gain from the hospital receiving a millage renewal.

Former Saginaw Attorney Thomas Fancher said the Saginaw Charter, goes further and dictates Saginaw City Council members must vote if there is no financial conflict of interest.

Thomas H. Fancher

Fancher said it's not uncommon for relatives of elected officials to fill appointments and there are a number of factors beyond possible financial gains, including fundraising potential, political persuasions or personal relationships, that can influence bias.

"It happens all the time," he said. "We're complicated human beings and all sorts of
things motivate us; and the only things that are barred are very
specific things."